Letter from the CEO

The Purpose of My E-NewsletterI hope you enjoy receiving my e-newsletter. It is intended to enhance and complement the personalized service that you already receive from me. The e-newsletter’s main objective is to ensure, regardless of busy work schedules and travel plans, that each of my clients will receive at least a minimal amount of timely advice on a regular basis. I also hope it will stimulate your thinking on issues related to your personal finances by providing you with articles on a variety of financial topics. Please feel free to call or e-mail me with any questions or comments, particularly with regard to the applicability of a given idea to your personal situation.

Please be liberal in sharing this e-newsletter with your colleagues and friends. Feel free to call or e-mail me with the names and addresses of people who might enjoy receiving their own copy of this e-newsletter.

Coming to Terms with StocksIt can be difficult to determine how to devise an investment strategy to help reach your financial goals. To help you determine a reasonable rate of return to expect on your stock investments, it might be instructive to review some facts about the stock market…[FULL ARTICLE…Coming to Terms with Stocks]

Using P/E RatiosUnfortunately, there is no way to tell with certainty whether a given stock is a good buy (or whether it’s time to sell), but a stock’s price to earnings ratio can provide an indication of the value of that stock. The price to earnings ratio — or P/E ratio — is the mostly widely used yardstick for evaluating stocks.[FULL ARTICLE…Using P/E Ratios]

Claiming Social Security BenefitsSocial Security benefits are a significant component of most people’s retirement income. There are three basic retirement benefit types for workers and/or their spouses: a worker benefit, a spousal benefit, and a survivor’s benefit.[FULL ARTICLE…Claiming Social Security Benefits]

What’s Your Risk Tolerance?Risk tolerance is a term that comes up a lot when discussing investing. But what does it mean? In simplest terms, your risk tolerance is the amount of volatility — or upward and downward swings in value — that you can handle in your portfolio. It’s a fairly straightforward concept. The real challenge lies in determining your own personal risk tolerance.[FULL ARTICLE…What’s Your Risk Tolerance?]

Time: Friend or Foe?Here’s when time is your foe: when you have only a couple of years left to work, and you don’t have enough accumulated to retire. And here’s when time is on your side: you start saving in your twenties, save every month, and keep saving until you retire.[FULL ARTICLE…Time: Friend or Foe?]